Atiku denies collecting money from Sanwo-Olu for 2023 election campaign

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says he never collected any money from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos for his 2023 election campaign.

This is contained in a statement issued by Atiku Media Office in Abuja on Thursday.

The media aide to Atiku, Paul Ibe, who issued the statement, denied the reports making the rounds that Mr Sanwo-Olu gave money to the former vice-president for his 2023 presidential election campaign.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atiku was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections.

Mr Ibe, in the statement, described the insinuations as a lie and kindergarten propaganda.

He said that the report had claimed that Mr Sanwo-Olu had made available to Atiku money purportedly belonging to Lagos.

The media aide stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was also credited with investigating the matter.

Mr Ibe described the report as “a blatant lie from the pit of hell; a contrived political hogwash and a futile campaign of calumny aimed at advancing a political interest against Abubakar.”

He said that Atiku did not know Mr Sanwo-Olu and had never met him before.

“How is it possible for an Atiku that did not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the exchange of money – let alone during the presidential election of 2023 in which his boss was a contestant? To what end would that be?” he queried.

READ ALSO: Rivers Crisis: Atiku, El-Rufai, others form coalition against Tinubu

Mr Ibe advised EFCC to make public the outcome of its alleged investigation, since it had been dragged into the matter

He called for immediate halt to what he described as a voyage of misadventure and campaign of calumny against the person and reputation of Atiku.

(NAN)